Family of man killed in BB gun case sues police and Walmart

The family of a man who picked up a BB gun for sale at an Ohio Walmart and was shot dead by police has filed a federal lawsuit, claiming that the corporation and police are responsible for his death.

John Crawford III was black, and his family’s lawyers Tuesday mentioned Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and Michael Brown as they announced the suit — evoking cases that have stirred international outrage because the three also were black and killed by police officers.

Grand juries chose not to indict officers in those cases, just as they decided not to indict police involved in Crawford’s death in Beavercreek.

The shooting happened August 5. Crawford was shopping at Walmart and picked up a BB gun that wasn’t packaged and had been sitting on the store shelf for two days, the Crawford family’s lawyers said Monday.

Attorney Michael Wright said his legal team filed a federal civil lawsuit against two police officers; Beavercreek’s police chief; the city of Beavercreek and its Police Department; and Walmart.

Wright told CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” Tuesday that race might have played a role in the shooting.

“We believe that had Mr. Crawford been white, he may have gotten a little bit more time to respond to the police officers,” he said. “These officers came in, saw Mr. Crawford and shot him on sight. They didn’t give him the opportunity to live.”

Officer with place in local history

The two officers are Sgt. David M. Darkow and Officer Sean C. Williams, who is also “involved in the only other fatal police shooting in the history of the Beavercreek Police Department,” according to the lawsuit.

The officers and their attorneys couldn’t be immediately reached for comment Tuesday.

Walmart spokesman Brian Nick expressed condolences to Crawford’s family and to relatives of a mother who fled the scene of the police shooting with her daughter, had a heart attack and later died.

“Our condolences go out to the families who lost loved ones,” Walmart’s Nick said. “Out of respect for everyone involved, we believe it’s not appropriate to discuss the specifics of this matter, but we can say that our associates acted properly. We take the safety and security of our stores very seriously so that Walmart remains a safe shopping experience for our customers.”

In September, an Ohio grand jury decided not to indict the police officers.

But Beavercreek City Manager Michael Cornell and police Chief Dennis Evers have requested that the FBI review the case to determine whether there were civil rights violations.

The Justice Department is investigating the police shooting.

Despite that willingness for a federal investigation, the city of Beavercreek and its Police Department expressed confidence they will prevail in the latest litigation.

“We acknowledge the family’s right to bring this action and are confident the trial will be fair and impartial. We believe the evidence will prove that the officer’s actions were legally justified,” the city said in a statement.

“Mr. Crawford never used, loaded or pointed the pellet rifle at anyone, was doing nothing improper or illegal, and never caused any harm or acted in a manner that would cause any reasonable person to believe that he may cause harm,” the suit said.

Williams and Darkow were responding to a 911 call about “a gentleman walking around with a gun in the store,” pointing it at people and “waving it back and forth,” according to a recording of the call.